The Twin Cities Divided and Connected by the Mighty Mississippi and its Bridges

The border of Minneapolis and St. Paul is the Mississippi River. The river creates a barrier and the bridges create the links between.

Beneath Washington Ave. Bridge2012The Washington Ave. Bridge opened in 1965 is a simplistic looking design to replace the original iron truss bridge of 1884. It connects downtown toNortheast Minneapolis with the scenic Mississippi River Trail winding under the bridge towards downtown.

The bridges always amazed me. Not only do they span nearly a century of architecture, but each has a very unique aesthetic. There is the historic Stone Arch Bridge on which opened in 1883 to the new and modern Lowry Avenue Bridge that opened in 2012.

Stone Arch Ruins2012The Stone Arch Bridge opened in 1883 and originally carried two tracks or rails for the Great Northern Railway. It has now been adapted as a pedestrian and bike bridge linking the historicSt. Anthony Main and downtown Minneapolis. The bridge is the site of a yearly festival and many fireworks displays.

Living or working in the Twin Cities you cannot avoid crossing the Mississippi on a regular basis. Moving to Texas has been odd in that my commute only crosses the Trinity River on an old and very unappealing structure. While living in both Minneapolis and St. Paul I used to love escaping at night to photograph the wonderful lines, curves, textures, and lighting of these magnificent structures. Every image could tell a story; representing a time in history in which these cities expanded across the river.

Hennepin Bridge Reflections2012The lights of the bridge reflect onto the smooth waters of the Mississippi River creating the look of a highway across the water. The Hennepin Ave. Bridge opened in 1990, yet still has a remarkably beautiful appearance with the suspension design and the lights along the suspension cables.

Looking back through my work over the past years I have amassed a small collection of a few of these bridges. My hopes is that if I return to the Twin Cities in the future I can put together a body of work representing each bridge that connects the east and west banks of the Mississippi River.